Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Lisa's Annual Oscar Commentary: The 79th Annual Academy Awards
Lisa’s Annual Oscar Commentary
The 79th Annual Academy Awards
Finally, Oscar has a found a host, or a hostess: Ellen De Generes is here to stay. Some of you may remember that I’ve been saying for a while that they should let Ellen host the Oscars. In fact, I even wrote exactly that in my commentary two years ago. I’m pleased that producer Laura Ziskin took my advice. Ellen rocked the house. She provided the perfect type of humour that simultaneously keeps everyone on edge and puts everyone at ease. Her comic timing is impeccable, and she’s just plain funny.
In spite of Ellen’s talent for keeping everyone interested and amused, the show went very long, and the winners weren’t particularly exuberant. I would give an award every year to Cuba Gooding Jr. every year. I want more jumping up and down. More tears. More laughs. More inappropriate kisses.
Ellen, Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and John C. Reilly provided the laughs for the evening. Jerry Seinfeld tried, but failed miserably. People seemed to be laughing out of politeness. Ellen got the biggest laugh of the night when she handed Marty Scorcese a screenplay and when Spielberg took the picture of Ellen with Clint. And shorties Abigail Breslin and Jaden Smith presenting the short film awards was very clever and a highlight of the night. Lesson for the Academy: more kids at the Oscars.
The acceptance speeches were mostly dull this year… all the reason to cue the music sooner. At least Forrest Whitaker prepared a speech this time, but his reaction to adrenalin is the opposite of most people – instead of exuberance, he’s comatose. Best speech of the night went to the winner of the Best Live Action Short Film, and the bonus was that the guy was good to look at. He’ll certainly be getting some work after this, and some hot dates. The worst speech of the night award unfortunately goes to Alan Arkin. His winning for Little Miss Sunshine was a surprise and a well-deserved win, but his acceptance speech though well-written was read, head-down, from the page…hard to believe that such a great actor can’t deliver a speech. He should have asked Sunshine’s writer Michael Arndt to write him a speech – then maybe he’d be able to memorize it. He made us all wish that Eddie Murphy had won. There wouldn’t have been a surprise, but at least we know that Eddie would give a great acceptance speech.
Sheri Lansing and Martin Scorcese were the Hollywood veterans that the audience truly enjoyed seeing receive their awards. Scorcese may be the shortest full-grown recipient of an Oscar, but at least now he’s tied for Oscar wins with Three-Six Mafia.
Now on to the important part of the night: the fashion. This year was a great year on the red carpet – not because there were so many people dressed well, but there were so many dressed badly. They say if you’re skinny and beautiful, you can wear anything and look great. Not true. Lots of pretty faces with bad dress choices – big disappointments. Gwyneth Paltrow – salmon sushi. Kirsten Dunst – parochial school girl dropout. Naomi – need a lift? Ann Hathaway – who dressed you? Not Patricia Field. Kelly Preston – Leopard Lady, it’s the Oscars, not Vegas. Beyonce – pageant contestant. Kate Winslet – pistacio ice cream but with less flavor. Catherine Deneuve – What was the heart thing with a sword through it? Did someone tattoo her dress by mistakes? Jessica Biel – I know you’re thinking this girl is so beautiful she can’t look bad, but that color was too bright this year, and the bottom of the dress was so tight I don’t know how she even walked in it. Cameron Diaz – does she ever look like she wasn’t just having sex on her kitchen table? And Jennifer Hudson – too much drape, lose the bolero, and you’re supposed to save your best dress of the season for the Oscars. To Jennifer’s credit, she actually wore a much better gold dress to the after parties.
The worst dressed of the night however, was not any of the above women. Meryl Streep, such an extreme disappointment after playing one of the best dressed women on screen. Did she use up her quota of great fashion? I get that it was hard to stay that thin, but wasn’t there a great dress somewhere in a bigger size? And give that necklace back to the King Tut exhibit. Queen Latifa’s still bigger than you and she always looks great in Carmen Marc Valvo. Maybe she can take you shopping next year. Meryl was not the worst, though she was the most disappointing. If you were unfortunate enough to catch the whole red carpet preview, than you probably caught a scary glimpse of Sally Kirkland wearing huge batwing arms - she needed all that fabric to cover the sheer bodice that was showing much more than you want to see…and if you were wondering what freaky designer made that dress, it was her very own Kabballa Rabbi. Was it supposed to be some kind of “Dreamcoat?”
On to the best dressed women. The trends were blue and blush, Grecian styles (ropes and draping), long trains, feathers, and lots of strapless necklines. Gorgeous in blue were Portia De Rossi, Jodie Foster, Emily Blunt (the only one from the Devil Wears Prada that did the red carpet justice), Maggie Gyllenhaal (good but give the feathers in the hair back to your parakeet), and the very single looking Reese Witherspoon.
Jennifer Lopez was elegant and stunning as always in Grecian style Marchese. Similarly in ivory silk, rhinestones, and soft bobbed hair, Rachel Weisz was a vision in Vera Wang. Helen Mirren took my advice: If you want to win an Oscar, dress like one – in gold. Helen looked like a winner in Christian LaCroix couture, with three quarter sleeves, a full skirt, and scooped neckline - the dress fit her perfectly and was perfect for her age and figure. She was a winner all around. I also thought Nicole Kidman looked stunning in Red. Reminiscent of the big-bowed dress Charlize Theron wore a couple of years ago, but in a softer crepe silk fabric on Nicole’s narrow frame was exquisite. My favorite red carpet diva Cate Blanchett never disappoints. She’s always fashion forward, daring, and elegant – this year in graphite shimmery Armani Prive – I loved it.
Even though I’m tempted to give the Best Dressed award to Abigail Breslin, who was adorable and age appropriate in her floral basket weave princess dress, I have to give the award to Penelope Cruz. Though the blush toned Versace feather dress reminds me of the feather dress that Oscar De Laurenta made for Sarah Jessica Parker, I thought it was modern, elegant, and completely breathtaking.
The men were also split this year, but most looked terrific. Let’s start with the awful. Philip Seymour Hoffman looked drunk, disheveled and never seems to have a tux that fits. Robert Downey Jr. also looked a little drunk and disheveled but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since he seems to have stayed out of prison for a while. Jackie Earle Haley still looked like an 80’s pedophile. Quincy Jones was wearing a novelty printed tux – so awful, but somehow on him, we’re just used to it. The Worst Dressed Man though was Spike Lee. I almost hate to give it to him because he makes such an easy target, but he looked like he was wearing a costume, not a tuxedo.
The key to the great tuxedo is choosing the right style for your height and size, and getting it made to fit. The trend this year was toward shawl collars with traditional white shirts and bowties. And a few of the men stepped out with the double-breasted tux: Jerry Seinfeld did it well, so did Will Smith. Djimon Honsou disappointed me a little this time. He’s usually one of my top guys because he always wears a perfectly fitted tux and is always modern but classic. His boldly trimmed tuxedo was a bit much for me, but it was perfectly tailored and I loved is cool shades. My other faves did not disappoint: George Clooney always looking like an old Holywood movie star, Mark Wahlberg, Clive Owen (even without a tie), John Travolta (great haircut), and Sacha Baron Cohen (tall, dark and handsome – not a Borat in sight).
The Best Dressed Man, however, was a tie. First in the tie: Leonardo DiCaprio always does it right – modern, young, crisp, and I love the look with the slicked hair. Also best dressed was Ken Watanabe. He did it all right. Perfect fit, modern, elegant, and he took a little risk. I don’t know who made his tux, but it looked like a new Japanese designer.
I’ve also got to give kudos to Ellen and her tuxedos. The velvet one was daring, the black one was standard, but the white one was the best. She always wears white well. She also got a great haircut for the night. She looked fabulous, but I’d love to see Ellen in a dress. I’m sure she’s more comfortable in pants and wants to feel like herself when she’s hosting, but it would be fun to see her put on a the glam. Maybe next year one of the best picture nominees will be a costume drama and we’ll get to see Ellen a corset showing cleavage. We’ll just have to wait till then…I’ll be watching.
Lisa J. Kanovsky
The 79th Annual Academy Awards
Finally, Oscar has a found a host, or a hostess: Ellen De Generes is here to stay. Some of you may remember that I’ve been saying for a while that they should let Ellen host the Oscars. In fact, I even wrote exactly that in my commentary two years ago. I’m pleased that producer Laura Ziskin took my advice. Ellen rocked the house. She provided the perfect type of humour that simultaneously keeps everyone on edge and puts everyone at ease. Her comic timing is impeccable, and she’s just plain funny.
In spite of Ellen’s talent for keeping everyone interested and amused, the show went very long, and the winners weren’t particularly exuberant. I would give an award every year to Cuba Gooding Jr. every year. I want more jumping up and down. More tears. More laughs. More inappropriate kisses.
Ellen, Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and John C. Reilly provided the laughs for the evening. Jerry Seinfeld tried, but failed miserably. People seemed to be laughing out of politeness. Ellen got the biggest laugh of the night when she handed Marty Scorcese a screenplay and when Spielberg took the picture of Ellen with Clint. And shorties Abigail Breslin and Jaden Smith presenting the short film awards was very clever and a highlight of the night. Lesson for the Academy: more kids at the Oscars.
The acceptance speeches were mostly dull this year… all the reason to cue the music sooner. At least Forrest Whitaker prepared a speech this time, but his reaction to adrenalin is the opposite of most people – instead of exuberance, he’s comatose. Best speech of the night went to the winner of the Best Live Action Short Film, and the bonus was that the guy was good to look at. He’ll certainly be getting some work after this, and some hot dates. The worst speech of the night award unfortunately goes to Alan Arkin. His winning for Little Miss Sunshine was a surprise and a well-deserved win, but his acceptance speech though well-written was read, head-down, from the page…hard to believe that such a great actor can’t deliver a speech. He should have asked Sunshine’s writer Michael Arndt to write him a speech – then maybe he’d be able to memorize it. He made us all wish that Eddie Murphy had won. There wouldn’t have been a surprise, but at least we know that Eddie would give a great acceptance speech.
Sheri Lansing and Martin Scorcese were the Hollywood veterans that the audience truly enjoyed seeing receive their awards. Scorcese may be the shortest full-grown recipient of an Oscar, but at least now he’s tied for Oscar wins with Three-Six Mafia.
Now on to the important part of the night: the fashion. This year was a great year on the red carpet – not because there were so many people dressed well, but there were so many dressed badly. They say if you’re skinny and beautiful, you can wear anything and look great. Not true. Lots of pretty faces with bad dress choices – big disappointments. Gwyneth Paltrow – salmon sushi. Kirsten Dunst – parochial school girl dropout. Naomi – need a lift? Ann Hathaway – who dressed you? Not Patricia Field. Kelly Preston – Leopard Lady, it’s the Oscars, not Vegas. Beyonce – pageant contestant. Kate Winslet – pistacio ice cream but with less flavor. Catherine Deneuve – What was the heart thing with a sword through it? Did someone tattoo her dress by mistakes? Jessica Biel – I know you’re thinking this girl is so beautiful she can’t look bad, but that color was too bright this year, and the bottom of the dress was so tight I don’t know how she even walked in it. Cameron Diaz – does she ever look like she wasn’t just having sex on her kitchen table? And Jennifer Hudson – too much drape, lose the bolero, and you’re supposed to save your best dress of the season for the Oscars. To Jennifer’s credit, she actually wore a much better gold dress to the after parties.
The worst dressed of the night however, was not any of the above women. Meryl Streep, such an extreme disappointment after playing one of the best dressed women on screen. Did she use up her quota of great fashion? I get that it was hard to stay that thin, but wasn’t there a great dress somewhere in a bigger size? And give that necklace back to the King Tut exhibit. Queen Latifa’s still bigger than you and she always looks great in Carmen Marc Valvo. Maybe she can take you shopping next year. Meryl was not the worst, though she was the most disappointing. If you were unfortunate enough to catch the whole red carpet preview, than you probably caught a scary glimpse of Sally Kirkland wearing huge batwing arms - she needed all that fabric to cover the sheer bodice that was showing much more than you want to see…and if you were wondering what freaky designer made that dress, it was her very own Kabballa Rabbi. Was it supposed to be some kind of “Dreamcoat?”
On to the best dressed women. The trends were blue and blush, Grecian styles (ropes and draping), long trains, feathers, and lots of strapless necklines. Gorgeous in blue were Portia De Rossi, Jodie Foster, Emily Blunt (the only one from the Devil Wears Prada that did the red carpet justice), Maggie Gyllenhaal (good but give the feathers in the hair back to your parakeet), and the very single looking Reese Witherspoon.
Jennifer Lopez was elegant and stunning as always in Grecian style Marchese. Similarly in ivory silk, rhinestones, and soft bobbed hair, Rachel Weisz was a vision in Vera Wang. Helen Mirren took my advice: If you want to win an Oscar, dress like one – in gold. Helen looked like a winner in Christian LaCroix couture, with three quarter sleeves, a full skirt, and scooped neckline - the dress fit her perfectly and was perfect for her age and figure. She was a winner all around. I also thought Nicole Kidman looked stunning in Red. Reminiscent of the big-bowed dress Charlize Theron wore a couple of years ago, but in a softer crepe silk fabric on Nicole’s narrow frame was exquisite. My favorite red carpet diva Cate Blanchett never disappoints. She’s always fashion forward, daring, and elegant – this year in graphite shimmery Armani Prive – I loved it.
Even though I’m tempted to give the Best Dressed award to Abigail Breslin, who was adorable and age appropriate in her floral basket weave princess dress, I have to give the award to Penelope Cruz. Though the blush toned Versace feather dress reminds me of the feather dress that Oscar De Laurenta made for Sarah Jessica Parker, I thought it was modern, elegant, and completely breathtaking.
The men were also split this year, but most looked terrific. Let’s start with the awful. Philip Seymour Hoffman looked drunk, disheveled and never seems to have a tux that fits. Robert Downey Jr. also looked a little drunk and disheveled but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since he seems to have stayed out of prison for a while. Jackie Earle Haley still looked like an 80’s pedophile. Quincy Jones was wearing a novelty printed tux – so awful, but somehow on him, we’re just used to it. The Worst Dressed Man though was Spike Lee. I almost hate to give it to him because he makes such an easy target, but he looked like he was wearing a costume, not a tuxedo.
The key to the great tuxedo is choosing the right style for your height and size, and getting it made to fit. The trend this year was toward shawl collars with traditional white shirts and bowties. And a few of the men stepped out with the double-breasted tux: Jerry Seinfeld did it well, so did Will Smith. Djimon Honsou disappointed me a little this time. He’s usually one of my top guys because he always wears a perfectly fitted tux and is always modern but classic. His boldly trimmed tuxedo was a bit much for me, but it was perfectly tailored and I loved is cool shades. My other faves did not disappoint: George Clooney always looking like an old Holywood movie star, Mark Wahlberg, Clive Owen (even without a tie), John Travolta (great haircut), and Sacha Baron Cohen (tall, dark and handsome – not a Borat in sight).
The Best Dressed Man, however, was a tie. First in the tie: Leonardo DiCaprio always does it right – modern, young, crisp, and I love the look with the slicked hair. Also best dressed was Ken Watanabe. He did it all right. Perfect fit, modern, elegant, and he took a little risk. I don’t know who made his tux, but it looked like a new Japanese designer.
I’ve also got to give kudos to Ellen and her tuxedos. The velvet one was daring, the black one was standard, but the white one was the best. She always wears white well. She also got a great haircut for the night. She looked fabulous, but I’d love to see Ellen in a dress. I’m sure she’s more comfortable in pants and wants to feel like herself when she’s hosting, but it would be fun to see her put on a the glam. Maybe next year one of the best picture nominees will be a costume drama and we’ll get to see Ellen a corset showing cleavage. We’ll just have to wait till then…I’ll be watching.
Lisa J. Kanovsky
(AskLJK)
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